She's working a different beat

This weekend, Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station Lt. Angela Shepherd was in town to work a different beat — on stage, behind a microphone.

Shepherd is lead singer and front woman for The Mixx, a five-piece rock ’n’ roll band that performed classic rock tunes and other popular favorites on Sunday as part of the annual Music in the Park free concert series at Memorial Park in La Cañada Flintridge.

Music in the Park is sponsored by the city and the La Cañada Valley Sun. Performances continue from 6 to 8 p.m. Sundays each weekend through Aug. 28.

Shepherd, who first explored her musical talents on stage during student plays at Reseda High School, has a strong, soulful voice and makes for a lively band leader — clapping, dancing and running on and off the gazebo stage to keep the crowd’s energy high.

With the help of some of her friends at the station, the group also made a rousing entrance — leaping out of two sheriff’s patrol cars, sirens blaring, moments before taking the stage.

“I started my first band when I was 20, and I’ve been in bands ever since. This is a new band lineup, but we’ve all played together before in different bands, so we’ve known each other for years,” said Shepherd.

Shepherd, who also handles some percussion and harmonica, shares the mic on some songs with each of her fellow band mates: guitarist Lowell Hornung, drummer Kevin Karamitros, keyboardist/guitarist Scott Tinturn and DJ Johnston on the bass guitar.

“It’s a beautiful evening, and this is a great place to be,” said Horning, a fleet manager for Toyota of Glendora.

Among Saturday’s crowd, a handful of CV Station colleagues turned out to show their support.“She sounds great, and we got a big thrill about being able to bring them in [with the patrol cars],” said Dep. Diane Short.

The Mixx will perform from 7 to 9 p.m. on Aug. 20 as part of 15th annual Farnsworth Park Summer Concert Series in Altadena.